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Fort Myers couple get an intimate feel of Daytona

What's it like to be behind the wheel of a Pace Car at Daytona?
Go Pro video of the pace car ride with Fran and Tommy Streets. The Driver is Gino Giovanelli. He is a member of the Daytona International Speedway staff.

Fran and Tommy Streets thoroughly have enjoyed the thrills and speed of Daytona International Speedway.

And the races aren't too bad, either.

Married at the track in 2001, the Fort Myers couple were honorary guests with 22 other couples last month where they spent about four hours. They raced around the 2.5-mile oval, had lunch with Daytona International Speedway President Joie Chitwood, met racer Greg Biffle and saw the $400 million renovation being done on the track.

"The people at the speedway are always friendly," Streets said. "The more times we go, the more people we meet."

The highlight was the two-lap run around the track. Streets, 67, who sat in the front seat, saw a top speed of 131 mph.

Fran, 70, sitting in the back, felt the G forces.

"It was the most exciting thing I've ever done," she said. "It was a good thing my feet were planted on the floor when we went around the bank. If I wasn't planted, I would've flown out of that car. It happened so fast, we were done before you knew it.

"I want to go back as many times as I can."

Tommy Streets said he and Fran went down to the apron for the second lap.

"There were a lot of spots we'd go by where I knew what happened in them in past races," he said. "The spot where Dale Earnhardt Sr. hit the wall and passed away in 2001, I was able to catch that spot in my eye.

"They took a video of us with a GoPro camera. Now, we'll get to see how big our eyeballs got."

Tommy Streets also came away in near awe with the renovation of the Speedway, which opened in 1959.

Daytona Rising, as the upgrade project is called, includes the rebuilding of the front stretch of the grandstand. When it's done, the Speedway will have approximately 101,000 permanent, wider and more comfortable seats, twice as many restrooms and three times as many concession stands as well as the speedway's first escalators, 14 new elevators, 60 luxury track-side suites with track-side views and a completely revamped hospitality experience for corporate guests.

Started in 2013, it's expected to be completed in time for the 2016 Rolex 24 At Daytona and Daytona 500.

Streets earned the invitation because he has been a regular ticket-holder of the Daytona 500 the past 26 years while he also has attended other events at the track. That they were married at the track earned them special attention.

"We were able to walk up and down pit road and then we went down to the Dale Earnhardt Jr. area," Streets said. "When we told them what we did, they treated us like king and queen."

Just a few months after they started dating, Streets took her to a race at Homestead. A trip to Daytona has dwarfed that first experience.

"From then I was hooked," she said. "And I liked that Tommy invited me to go."

Daytona International Speedway renovation by the numbers

$400 million Cost of the project

101,000 Permanent, wider and more comfortable seats

13,000 Cubic yards of concrete poured

7,000 Tons of steel in place

6,300 New jobs created

60 luxury trackside suites

40 Escalators in the new grandstands

30 Acres of drywall that will be used

29 Acres of Lake Lloyd, which is in Daytona's infield

15 Stadiums and arenas from around the state that can fit in Daytona's infield